I am having such a fun time reliving my vacation as I chronicle it for you... I do hope you are enjoying going along for the ride! 

Day five was our least "touristy" day so I have fewer pictures... Ironically it was one of the best and for me at least one of the most meaningful days of the trip! 

When I booked our hotel I opted for the "rise & shine" option which included having pastries and coffee delivered to us every morning... I thought 2-4 muffins... Hahaha... I was so wrong!

This is what showed up morning one (I took this picture AFTER Paul helped himself!)!! When we checked in we placed our "coffee order" and two piping hot lattes arrived with this box! 

Those almond scones are so good they have forever ruined me for other scones! SERIOUSLY!!

(Nina... Seriously, call the inn and find out the bakery and eat one of their scones every day! I am so jealous that you can!!!)

Our day was spent with my sweet bloggy little sister Nina and her family... 

Paul & her husband hung out and watched the boys (remember, she has two... One did not get in the picture!) letting us have a much anticipated girls day!! 

We decided to explore the little shops dotting the downtown area of Friday Harbor, a lot of which she hadn't explored herself being a fairly new resident herself. 

There were cute shops up and down this street and the shopping was quite fun! 

I had my "art glass" from Seattle but was on the hunt for something distinctly "Northwestern" and the "Arctic Raven Gallery" did not disappoint! 

I saw a piece as we first entered and as beautiful as everything else in the gallery was I kept going back to that one... I am very glad I chose this piece...

It even fits the spot I had in mind perfectly! 

Most of the rest of my shopping was for other people... I don't need anything so I limited most of our souvenirs to art pieces we could remember the trip by but it was time to gather some items to spoil some of the people we love back here and Friday Harbor did not disappoint! 

I found the cutest items for my grand baby in this shop! 

and the little kitchen in the window was hard to pass up, but alas Katy is glad this did not arrive in a box as she is a bit young at 10 months to play with it! 

When I say "arrive in a box" that's what our vacation did... I discovered early on that almost every place will ship your items for you (some for free) so you don't have to lug them back! I took full advantage of this and our "vacation spoils" arrived within a few days of arriving home... It was very exciting! 

We stopped for a "girly" lunch at the "Bean Cafe" and continued what we had been doing all day and that was talking non-stop! The visiting and sharing was truly the best part of the day! 

(photo: google.com)

After lunch and a bit more shopping we headed back to our hotel and made plans for the evening... There was some confusion as to how we could get out to the other side of the island where she lives since the guys were there already with two napping kiddos and the only taxi on the island refused to make the 20 minute drive! Ha!! So we dropped into the "English style pub" next to our hotel for a late afternoon aperitif... It was at that moment I realized how much older then Nina I am since the waitress took my "cocktail" order without question but literally carded her for a club soda! 

After a bit the boys were able to come retrieve us and we stopped into a grocery store to get some dinner fixin's and headed out to their place for dinner.

While at the store I spotted this beer... Paul doesn't drink much beer (or anything else for that matter... Actually neither of us do, but it was vacation after all!) but back when we lived in Montana from 1992-2000 this was his favorite and occasionally when we'd go out for dinner he'd get one. (It wasn't bottled at first back in the day!) So when I spotted it at her little store in Friday Harbor I decided to surprise him! (He said it made his day... Awwww!) 

Nina cooked an AMAZING and HUGE dinner for us and we all visited like long time friends! It was an amazing time and one I will treasure always! 

It was hard to say our "goodbyes" as they dropped us at our hotel that night, but I my heart is fuller knowing them. In fact getting to spend time with them and Julie & Kerry earlier in the week are by far the most meaningful part of the trip! 

Tomorrow I will share the last installment of our little adventure... It will cover days six through eight but since day six is the last official vacation day and the rest of that is travel I promise it won't be too long! 

Thanks for listening,

Seattle & Friday Harbor... Day Four...

First of all, sorry it's taking me so long to get through all these posts... I know everyone is crazy busy but you all find time to post... I think I have figured it out... I need "uninterrupted" time to write and if I can't get that the writing does not happen... So if you all would kindly let my family know I need more "Rebecca time" to write I will reward you all with more of my rambling nonsense! Sounds fair! 

Now on to our day four of our trip... 

I finally convinced Paul to just let us eat breakfast in the hotel restaurant so I would not be totally worn out since we had a busy day ahead... 

We would be flying by float plane to Friday Harbor at noon but first we had a difficult task that morning in that we could only bring 25 pounds of luggage each (including all carry on items like my purse) and we had about 100 pounds of luggage and I had done some shopping! We had to pare down to just what we needed the most on the island and the airline would store the rest. Paul's suitcase was the smaller of the two so we decided to only take it and my purse and anything we didn't need would go in my suitcase and our two carry-on bags... After much decision making we were as light as we were going to get. (I seriously considered wearing extra layers but it was kind of warm so I would have been miserable.) 

Around 10:30 we bid our lovely hotel and it's amazing staff adieu and took a taxi to the Lake Union Kenmore Air Terminal. The good news was we were at just 37 pounds of luggage between the two of us! (I could have packed more!!! UGHHH!) but the bad news is we had an hour wait in a teeny tiny terminal with a couple of the most annoying women I have ever encountered. I usually love to meet new people but these women were the most self absorbed people I think I have ever seen... I could fill a whole post with their behavior but I won't, let's just say as the terminal filled up with people for one of the four flights leaving at noon they tended to all give them a wide berth and mostly clustered in the tiny area we were in. Thankfully they were not on the same plane we were! 

And here it is... A whopping six seat plane INCLUDING the pilot! 

There the pilot is loading our bags as the four of us passengers headed down to the plane! 

Here is Paul in the back seat... It looks like he's crammed in but he's actually trying to duck my photo... Silly him, I'll use it anyways! 

Here we are taxiing on the lake and...

Just that quick we were off...

(I spared you the story of my graceful entrance into said plane... I got in and nobody got wet so enough said!) 

Here are a couple photos of leaving Seattle...

Now that's a view of the Space Needle!! 

And that is the EMP museum again on the lower left this time from the air, and the monorail station in the center... If you notice, the tracks of the monorail go right through the EMP building. I hadn't mentioned this before since it would have been had to describe but yes the EMP building was built around the monorail! Cool, huh?

Here is the view from my seat forward... Tiny little plane! 

I don't know if this map helps or if you can even read it (maybe if you click on it!) but is shows where we were headed in that box toward the top...

When we got there the plane dropped us off on this pier that was a total maze... First we headed the logical way that was a dead end so we doubled back and wound our way to shore...

(google.com image)

See what I mean!

There was a small park right there and after cutting through it we were right in front of our hotel.

The Island Inn at 123 West

It was incredible! So modern, yet so comfortable! 

I was so exhausted I wanted to dive right into that bed but we still had a big day ahead of us! 

Oh, and the airline knew we were celebrating our anniversary so they sent over flowers & champagne!   

The bathroom was a virtual spa! 

Huge soaking tub...

Relaxing shower!

And the view!!! 

But we had come to Friday Harbor to meet up with my bloggy little sister and her family...

Meet Nina from Nina the Mom!

She & her husband and her two adorable little boys would be our hosts for the next part of our trip! 

First they whisked us off to lunch at this little taco place that I can't remember the name of if my life depended on it... It was a literal hole in the wall but oh so good... Lick your plate good! 

After lunch they took us back to our hotel so we could settle in...

I needed some moleskin since I had horrible blisters from all the walking in Seattle and so after a brief nap we headed up the street to the pharmacy and dropped into the market to get some creamer for my morning coffee... 

Later Nina & Family met us down the street for dinner... 

We had walked past this place on our way to the store so I was thrilled when they suggested it for dinner. I had absolutely fabulous fish & chips here for dinner!

We then retired for the night with big plans for tomorrow! 

I went back and took a dip in that giant tub then slept like a baby in that amazing room!  

Thanks for listening,

Seattle... Day Three...

Day three once again started bright & early.... I once again awoke incredibly early and we had the same discussion we had the previous day about breakfast... I in my pre-coffee haze wanted to just go downstairs and eat at the hotel but Paul had other plans...

He really wanted to go back down to the market for breakfast and to explore a bit more then we did yesterday... I am not able to form a decent argument pre-coffee so I got dressed and stumbled down the hill with him.

Today the weather was MUCH more what you'd expect Seattle to be like in the spring... Gray and rainy but on the cold side too... Yay... Early morning five block walk in the rain before coffee... But I put on a smile and went for it.

I didn't think to take any pictures of the restaurant where we ate but it was inside the market, overlooking the harbor and the food was fresh and excellent.

We were once again there before the vendors had set up... 

I actually think this was Paul's plan to keep me from spending money but as we explored I did find a few little thing to bring back...

I had also passed this amazing umbrella shop twice yesterday and since it was raining I had an excuse to stop in... It was SUPER hard to choose when you have this many to choose from but I found one I really liked and left the store sporting a new sassy umbrella... (I am too tired to take a picture of it right now so I will add it in a later post as I would have MANY more chances to use it!) 

Since we were meeting some friends at 1 PM we decided to pre-buy some lunch to take back to the hotel...

Paul had spotted this bagel cafe (Market Bagel) the day before and wanted to try it..

Based on the somewhat disturbing (or maybe it's just me) sign on the counter I was skeptical but we gave it a try...

It turned out the food was really, really good! 

The friends we were going to meet at 1 PM were none other then the amazing Julie from Herding Grasshoppers one of my bestest bloggy friends and now real life friend and her husband Kerry who drove down from their home north of Seattle to spend the afternoon and evening with us!

Julie is just as nice in person as she is on her blog and there wasn't even one second of awkwardness! This is amazing to me... It just proved to me that bloggy friends are real friends! 

They picked us up at our hotel and first stop was an Asian market in the Chinatown district...

The word "market" doesn't really cover it... Even "super" market seems weak... It was huge and had a full food court, housewares section, gifts, toys & books... And TONS of food!! 

We hit the snack and food aisle pretty hard...

Julie was looking for some crackers she had had before and I decided to find some fun candy to bring back to my "kids." I would love to take a picture of it to show you but I made the mistake of giving it to them right away and they were gone just as fast!

I would have loved to explore it more but there was a whole city out there waiting to be explored so we headed out! 

I had told Julie that I wanted to buy some of the AMAZING hand-blown glass I had seen all over the city so they took us to Pioneer Square and to the most amazing glass studio... The Glasshouse Studio 

(Photo Credit: Julie)

I could have spent all day there this place was so amazing!

But since the guys were waiting on us I had to make some choices...

I chose that red vase up there and one of those "color burst" pieces like the yellow one pictured only in orange. 

(Photo Credit: Julie)

I also got the girls each one of those small vases/candle holders pictured on the lower right of the picture above and a perfume bottle for my mom...

But let's just take a minute to admire the shots of their work that Julie took... 

(Photo Credit: Julie)

(Photo Credit: Julie)

(Photo Credit: Julie)

 I almost bought the above vase... I don't know what made me pick the red over the green but I loved them both! 

The "glassworks" is in the back of the studio and you can watch them making the pieces right there...

So cool...

(Photo Credit: Julie)

(Photo Credit: Julie)

(Photo Credit: Julie)

After the glassworks we explored a few more art studios and actually met a couple who used to live one town over from where we currently live and he actually worked at the place my mother retired from... 

It really is a small world! 

We decided to take a break and grab a coffee at one of the gazillion Starbucks in this city...

(Photo Credit: Julie)

There's Paul and I...

Kerry & Julie...

After our coffee break we explored some more shops but I was deeply committed to not buying anything that I could get back here so I didn't make another purchase...

But we did explore some...

Interesting marketing... 

Here is the famous "square" in Pioneer Square...

And Kerry in front of a parking garage that he calls the "sinking ship"... He is an architect so he pointed out lots of cool buildings and land marks. He (like Paul) is full of facts and very interesting to talk to. Paul enjoyed his time with Kerry very much.

After Pioneer Square we headed back to the hotel... The guys hung out in the lobby while Julie and I went in search of a "Made in Washington" store I had heard was in the adjoining shopping center. I was able to pick out gift to bring back to some friends and family... 

At this point I should tell you we were all having a good time, laughing and enjoying ourselves so when we dropped into the hotel concierge to make a dinner reservation he did not seem to appreciate our good moods... He did help us make reservations at an area restaurant called the Icon Grill...

He described it as "funky and uniquely Seattle" so we didn't know what to expect...

We were pleasantly surprised...

The food was AMAZING... Actually better then amazing but I don't know what word that would be...

I had the Grilled Asparagus Salad 

Description: "Fresh asparagus‍ lightly grilled and served on a bed of spring mix.  Topped with a Dijon hazelnut vinaigrette, herbed goat cheese and sweet roasted peppers."

 Yum!!

The Spring Quinoa Risotto

Description: Fresh asparagus, spring peas, spring onions and baby spinach tossed with a lightly toasted riostto style quinoa and finished with sweet cream butter and parmesan cheese.

This dish was so good but incredibly filling! 

My dessert was the Chocolate Custard Cake 

Description: Rich chocolate cake with a soft pudding bottom finished with a drizzle of salted caramel sauce and fresh whipped cream.

It does not usually come with M&Ms but Edward our incredible waiter let me have some... 

I had consumed not one but TWO "Mercer Island Ice Teas" and since I don't usually drink very often I was feeling a bit "festive"! 

Here's Edward...

Doesn't he look like Zachary Quinto?

(Wikipedia photo)

Here's Zachary...

It's kind of uncanny...

Anyhow, I don't know about Zachary but Edward was adorable and a ton of fun! 

(Photo Credit: Julie)

He even joined us for a few minutes and when I mentioned we were bloggers he gave me his email to send him a link when we blog about our night... I think he must have assumed I had more then my daily sixty to a hundred or so visitors... 

(Sorry Edward, I am afraid I am very small time but you were the best and truly made our night!!! 

If you ever get to Maine let me know and the lobster is my treat!!)

(Photo Credit: Julie)

Anyhow, I had a great time getting to be actual real life friends with Julie for a bit and wish we lived closer together! 

PS. It turns out the concierge at the Mayflower was not as annoyed with us as I thought since he sent us an surprise appetizer!

Thanks for listening,